Anyone who has seen or talked to Selma Blair dressed for her return as Liz Sherman in Hellboy II: The Golden Army would automatically assume that she would be a shoe-in to play the title role in Neil Gaiman’s movie version of Death: The High Cost of Living, especially since she’s friends with that movie’s writer/director and producer (Hellboy II director Guillermo del Toro).
During our interview on-set with Blair, she was asked about that, but as much as she’d love to play the character, it doesn’t look likely to be in the cards for her:
“I wanted to play Death for a long time,” she told us, “and on the first one, people would see me and go, ‘Oh my God, you have to play Death, you have to play Death.’ I didn’t know if Guillermo was doing Death at the time and I don’t think he knew for sure that he would be teaming up with Neil for that or helping Neil out, and he’d say, ‘Yeah, yeah, good, Selma, you’d be good for Death!’ and then, crickets…crickets…”
“I think he definitely has his eye on someone, and I would know if it were me, and it’s not me so I’ll give it up,” she continued, “But it’s something I’ll see and I love that character and that’s kind of really right up my alley, so I’ll be first in line to see it, but sadly, it definitely won’t be me, ’cause I would know. I’m good friends with Neil, and that still didn’t get me the job.”
Later on, we asked director Guillermo del Toro, who has signed on to produce the movie and help Neil get it made about a status update. “We talked about him directing as soon as possible,” he responded, “but again, I hope that the ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ advantage is translated as being able to put those projects together, because the most exciting thing in the genre, any genre, is the new directors. Obviously, old farts like me continuing but young guys coming in constantly. I think finding a Neil Gaiman or a Juan Antonio Bayona has been a really interesting thing because it’s the first movies they do. I think that if anyone knows that character it’s him, and then if we need to create a support structure, we will. There is without a doubt no one more qualified to tell that story then Neil Gaiman in my mind. I think that Neil is a guy that thinks in terms of ideas and very concrete images. He’s not an artist in the sense that he’s not a draughtsman, but he is the creator of that universe, and I think if you can surround him with a really strong team…”
Check back early next week for a brief preview of our visit to the set of Hellboy II: The Golden Army at Korba Studios in Hungary.
Source: Edward Douglas
